Snow Leopard Install/Reactions Thread

[silverpig]

Okay, just got done installing it over Leopard on my MBP. The install was pretty smooth and everything seems to be working great right now.

Few things:
1. It defaults to the 32-bit kernel. Boot while holding down the "6" and "4" keys and you'll get 64 bit if your EFI is capable of it. To check, click on the apple menu, about this mac, more info, then the Software heading (with the arrow) and see if 64 bit kernel and extensions is yes or no.
2. You can edit the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist file to force 64 bit on every boot by changing

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string></string>

to

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>arch=x86_64</string>

I just did this on mine and it works.

Still haven't played with quicktime X yet though. Looking forward to it.

I also haven't started on the snow leopard retail hack for my hackintosh. That might take a little while.

 

[VinylxScratches]

I have a old 1.83Ghz Macbook. I tried doing the 6 4 thing and it didn't work. I'm assuming 64bit drivers for my Macbook aren't there yet?

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: VinylxScratches
I have a old 1.83Ghz Macbook. I tried doing the 6 4 thing and it didn't work. I'm assuming 64bit drivers for my Macbook aren't there yet?

Apparently your EFI doesn't support 64 bit or something.

 

[little elvis]

Originally posted by: silverpig
Okay, just got done installing it over Leopard on my MBP. The install was pretty smooth and everything seems to be working great right now.

Few things:
1. It defaults to the 32-bit kernel. Boot while holding down the "6" and "4" keys and you'll get 64 bit if your EFI is capable of it. To check, click on the apple menu, about this mac, more info, then the Software heading (with the arrow) and see if 64 bit kernel and extensions is yes or no.
2. You can edit the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist file to force 64 bit on every boot by changing

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string></string>

to

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>arch=x86_64</string>

I just did this on mine and it works.

Still haven't played with quicktime X yet though. Looking forward to it.

I also haven't started on the snow leopard retail hack for my hackintosh. That might take a little while.

Are you seeing any performance benefits running a 64bit kernel over the 32bit?

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Will any of the computers automatically boot the 64 bit kernel?

 

[mmntech]

I've been trying to get my Unibody Macbook (late 2008) to boot into 64-bit but it keeps refusing. Tried the hold 6 & 4 method on boot, edited the plist, tweaked it in the terminal, but system profiler still reports that the 64-bit kernel isn't loaded. I know the EFI is 64-bit. Any ideas what's going on?

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: little elvis

Are you seeing any performance benefits running a 64bit kernel over the 32bit?

I'm not running any benchmarks or anything, and both versions seem plenty fast to me. If there are any benefits my 5 minutes of 32-bit use hasn't shown any

 

[silverpig]

Okay, I just installed it on my hackintosh. Pretty smooth so far, but not quite there yet.

EP45-DS3L
7900GS
Q6600

I followed the EP45-UD3L guide on insanelymac (the DS3L required using windows to generate the dsdt.aml and I don't have access to windows), and got it to boot up into snow leopard the first time no problem. Ethernet works, graphics works, but there are two small issues. First, no sound. I've got an ALC888 chip with the mobo and I know I can get it working under Leopard, but haven't gotten it working under Snow yet. I'm not worried as I had to work at it a little bit under Leopard too. Second issue, I get the spotlight indexing kernel panic. Just gotta turn spotlight off for now (although it's running on one drive right now with no problems), but I'm sure I can get this figured out.

All in all, pretty freaking smooth for a first shot.

There's one future problem however. Apparently my realtek rtl1000 kext is 32 bit only (I'm forcing 32 bit mode right now) so I might have to deal with that later too.

update: Just booted into 64-bit mode. Ethernet is fine.

 

[Eug]

Safari in 64-bit mode (which is the default on 64-bit machines) is blazing fast. It doesn't matter if Snow Leopard is running in 32-bit mode or in 64-bit mode.

SunSpider JavaScript running on my 13" MacBook Pro 2.26 GHz:

Mac OS X 10.5.6, Safari 3.2.1: 3261.8 ms
Mac OS X 10.5.8, Safari 4.0.3 (5531.9): 824.8 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 32-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 657.6 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 64-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 479.2 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 64-bit, 64-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 478.4 ms

Graph

 

[dmw16]

So it's worth it for me to spend $9.95 to get it? Since I bought my MBP in late June I qualify for the discounted price.

 

[suklee]

Originally posted by: dmw16
So it's worth it for me to spend $9.95 to get it? Since I bought my MBP in late June I qualify for the discounted price.

Yep, definitely.

My MBP is running a lot cooler for some reason?

 

[sourceninja]

Well, I'm going back to OSX 10.5 for a few months. I'm having horrible problems with SL. Finder, Spotlight, safari, etc all just freeze up on everday actions.

 

[VinylxScratches]

Originally posted by: Eug
Safari in 64-bit mode (which is the default on 64-bit machines) is blazing fast. It doesn't matter if Snow Leopard is running in 32-bit mode or in 64-bit mode.

SunSpider JavaScript running on my 13" MacBook Pro 2.26 GHz:

Mac OS X 10.5.6, Safari 3.2.1: 3261.8 ms
Mac OS X 10.5.8, Safari 4.0.3 (5531.9): 824.8 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 32-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 657.6 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 64-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 479.2 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 64-bit, 64-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 478.4 ms

Graph

Most def. I can't believe how fast pages load up.

 

[sourceninja]

Originally posted by: VinylxScratches

Originally posted by: Eug
Safari in 64-bit mode (which is the default on 64-bit machines) is blazing fast. It doesn't matter if Snow Leopard is running in 32-bit mode or in 64-bit mode.

SunSpider JavaScript running on my 13" MacBook Pro 2.26 GHz:

Mac OS X 10.5.6, Safari 3.2.1: 3261.8 ms
Mac OS X 10.5.8, Safari 4.0.3 (5531.9): 824.8 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 32-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 657.6 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 64-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 479.2 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 64-bit, 64-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 478.4 ms

Graph

Most def. I can't believe how fast pages load up.

I wish that was the case for me :-( I can't figure it out, 3 separate macbook pro's, 3 clean installs (used disk utility to erase the partitions) all three have the same exact problems, 2 different SL disks (my family pack for the house, and the copy my work gave me for my work notebook).

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: dmw16
So it's worth it for me to spend $9.95 to get it? Since I bought my MBP in late June I qualify for the discounted price.

Yes, most definitely. (Same deal for me more or less - CAD$13 in Canada.)

Originally posted by: sourceninja

I wish that was the case for me :-( I can't figure it out, 3 separate macbook pro's, 3 clean installs (used disk utility to erase the partitions) all three have the same exact problems, 2 different SL disks (my family pack for the house, and the copy my work gave me for my work notebook).

Well, I haven't used my Snow Leopard machine for much except for Word 2008 and Safari so far, so I can't say I've done a complete test. All I know is Safari is lightning fast (and Word seems to be faster too). What software are you using? (I'm sticking with Leopard 10.5 on my iMac for now, until I do more Snow Leopard testing on my 13" MacBook Pro.)

BTW, I'm sticking with 32-bit Snow Leopard after the above results, considering that running 64-bit Safari with 32-bit OS X is the same speed as running 64-bit Safari with 64-bit OS X. That way I shouldn't run into too many driver incompatibilities. Using 64-bit Safari means I won't be able to run most Safari plugins (because most are 32-bit), but I don't care because I never use Safari plugins anyway.

 

[little elvis]

Is anybody else noticing their computer running hotter under SL? (Macbook Pro v4.1, 2.5 Ghz)

I'm just surfing the web and my CPU temp is 67C. Even more surprisingly or more likely concerning my GPU temp is 74C. I'm not doing anything that should tax the GPU.

Under Leopard, my CPU temp would climb to 55C while browsing the web.

 

[KeithP]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
I think I read something about Snow Leopard calling 1MB = 1,000,000 bytes. That could explain the new-found free space as well.

Yep. I keep seeing all these comments on the extra space and I am wondering if people realize that Apple changed how they calculate a MB. My formatted 500GB HD now says 500GB available.

Also, if there are any doubts, the $29 upgrade disc will definitely install 10.6 on a completely wiped system. I cloned my MacBook's HD to an external, booted to the external to check it and then erased the MacBook HD. I then disconnected the external and booted from the 10.6 disc and it installed fine.

My biggest surprise so far, my MagicJack works fine!

-KeithP

 

[mmntech]

Hmm, it seems Snow Leopard won't work in 64-bit mode on the Macbooks and MacMinis. What a ripoff. Is it too late to return it?

 

[VinylxScratches]

Originally posted by: mmntech
Hmm, it seems Snow Leopard won't work in 64-bit mode on the Macbooks and MacMinis. What a ripoff. Is it too late to return it?

All apps that are 64 are 64 bit. The core of the OS is 32bit though. You don't see an improvement? I def do on my Macbook.

 

[silverpig]

Guh, audio is being a royal PITA right now. Everything else works wonderfully.

 

[ViRGE]

What the sam-hell did Apple do to OpenGL performance? It's not like Mac OS X was blazing in the first place, but they've actually managed to make it significantly slower.

 

[Kadarin]

I upgraded my mid-'07 vintage 2.4Ghz 4GB MBP to 10.6 w/o doing a clean install. I haven't really noticed many differences yet, but no problems either.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
What the sam-hell did Apple do to OpenGL performance? It's not like Mac OS X was blazing in the first place, but they've actually managed to make it significantly slower.

What makes you say that it is slower? I am not defending, I am curious of the test and want to see if I can replicate it on my end.

Oh and if anyone was noticing Trash taking an inordinate amount of time to empty, go into Finder Preferences (Click on an open area of your desktop, or a Finder window, hit CMD+, to bring up the preferences, and then go to Advanced. Uncheck 'Empty Trash Securely').

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: ViRGE
What the sam-hell did Apple do to OpenGL performance? It's not like Mac OS X was blazing in the first place, but they've actually managed to make it significantly slower.

What makes you say that it is slower? I am not defending, I am curious of the test and want to see if I can replicate it on my end.

Phoronix did some testing with the Mac version of their test suite: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.p...x_106_benchmarks&num=4

It's consistent with testing users have been doing with other things such as XBench. OpenGL performance is noticeably slower across the board.

 

[Eug]

Did a little bit more testing:

Photoshop CS3 works fine
Toast 10 works fine
VLC works fine
Flash works fine (and in fact is already there in Safari)
Office 2008 works fine
WMV works fine if you install the latest Flip4Mac beta
Carbon Copy Cloner (3.3 beta 3) gave me a weird message after my latest clone, but the cloned disk boots fine
iLife '08 and iWork '09 work fine (of course)